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Making the Pruning Cut Pruning shears are for cutting small limbs. Shears come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes but are essentially of two types. One has a curved blade that cuts by passing against a curved or hooked anvil. The other has a straight blade that cuts against a flat anvil. The later is usually available only on hand shears. If kept sharp, both are equally effective and easy to use.
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A close cut can be made with les effort by placing the blade of the shears against the trunk or branch to which the limb to be removed is attached. The blade should cut up. Cutting a branch from the side with curve bladed shears has a somewhat similar upward cutting action. Small limbs, including suckers and water sprouts, should be cut close to the trunk or branch from which they arise. On many kinds of trees there will be less chance for other shoots to grow from the latent buds left at the base of such limbs. |
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Cutting upward with the shear blade is particularly important when thinning the terminal growth of young trees to laterals. Leave a short stub (about 1/4") to reduce splitting out of the remaining lateral. If such a cut is made too close to the chosen lateral and with the shear blade cutting down, the cut branch may split through the lateral. This could be serious loss in a young tree. |
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Large limbs must be cut with a saw. The recommended procedure is to remove a large limb in two steps involving three cuts. Make the first cut on the underside of the branch 1 to 2 feet from the crotch. The under cut should be at least 1/3 of the diameter. Make the second cut 1 to 3 inches further from the crotch than the first. The limb should split cleanly between the two cuts without tearing the bark. |
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You can then make the third cut at the crotch with less chance of the bark tearing and leaving a jagged cut surface. The position of this cut is important to insure rapid healing of the wound. Many trees form ridges on the top and bottom of branches where they are attached to the trunk. These are called shoulder rings. Pruning cuts should be made between the center ridges of these rings on the upper and lower sides of the branch. The cut will not be flush parallel to the trunk, but will be out from it slightly with the lower edge of the cut further away from the truck than the top. Such a cut will form a smaller wound than a flush cut and the covering callus formation will be more rapid. Callus tissue should develop uniformly around the edge of the wound and cover with a thin layer. |
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Often shoulder rings are not present at branch attachments. The cutting position can be approximated by a line connecting the point bisecting the top angle of the crotch and a similar point bisecting the lower angle of attachment. Top
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